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Michael Silk (Earth-616)
| Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Wanderer, runaway | Education = High school dropout | Origin = Mutant | PlaceOfBirth = | Creators = Ann Nocenti; Brian Postman | First = Spider-Woman #49 | HistoryText = Mickey was a mutant. Strange incidents had seemed to follow him around for several years, such as fires and explosions, and many believed erroneously that Mickey was an arsonist without guessing the truth. He had been through several foster parents. After Henry and Samantha Silk took him as a foster child, they had similar experiences to their predecessors, and Mickey denied any knowledge of the incidents which occurred intermittently. There was an explosion in the school during a baseball game that sent him into a panic, and he fled still wearing his baseball uniform. Fleeing to Los Angeles, Mickey became paranoid and delusional, seeing danger all around him. The police briefly caught him, but then he escaped and fled to the local bus depot, where he encountered Tigra of the Avengers. Sympathizing with his problems, Tigra agreed to help the terrified youth. The two of them hid out together in a clock tower as Spider-Woman (hired by the Silks)scoured the city looking for Mickey. As Mickey's powers activated the toll bell in the tower, Spider-Woman investigated and found Tigra protecting Silk. After a cursory clash, they deduced that Mickey was causing the things that were happening, and they began calling him "Poltergeist". Spider-Woman promised not to turn Mickey or Tigra over to the police, but when she returned to give them the message after advising the police that she was responsible for the noise, they had mysteriously vanished. Poltergeist and Tigra had been kidnapped by the Locksmith and the psychic Tick Tock as they cleansed all of San Francisco of its super-humans. Mickey was attached to a device to neutralize his powers via a "brain-lock," which sent a mild electrical pulse through his brain to render him catatonic. When Spider-Woman was also captured by the Locksmith, she managed to get Tigra to insult Poltergeist to heighten his distress, causing his powers to short out their specially designed cells. Switching costumes with Gypsy Moth, Spider-Woman freed the others and helped them to escape. While they were attending a subsequent party at the home of Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Tigra promised to teach Poltergeist how to use his powers. During the party though, Jessica's spirit was taken into the past by her mentor Magnus to battle Morgan Le Fay, but upon her return, she discovered her body was dead. She then wished that her friends would forget her so that they would not mourn her, and Magnus removed all memories of her from Poltergeist, Tigra, and everyone else present. Despite Magnus' spell, however, several of Jessica's guests recovered their memories of her after the shock of seeing her lying on the ground dead. As Tigra rushed her to the hospital, Poltergeist stayed behind at Jessica's house as Spider-Woman's ghost returned looking for her body. Frightened away from the house, he took off, never to return. Returning to Los Angeles, Poltergeist was taken into the Heartbreak Hotel by Kate. Poltergeist, along with six other mutants from the Heartbreak Hotel, found an unconscious Dazzler (with her powers out-of-control) along a Los Angeles beach and brought her back to the Heartbreak Hotel. Later Mickey and Kate unsuccessfully tried to keep The Beast from entering the room where Dazzler was recovering from her ordeal.Subsequently Poltergeist witnessed a kiss between Beast and Dazzler in the Hotel's sun-room, which reminded him of his own inability to feel anything without setting loose the 'poltergeist' inside him. He started thinking about Spider-Woman, whom he still missed and still believed to be dead, and accidentally wrecked the sun room's windows. Dazzler told him that one day he would gain control his powers, and then she comforted him. Poltergeist was later present when Kate told the Beast to follow his heart and to try to rescue Dazzler from the Gladiators. Later, he and Link decided to go and rescue Dazzler from the Gladiators themselves. Poltergeist and Link arrived at the Underground Mutant Theatre where the Gladiators were based, and they broke in. They found their way to the Arena, where they found Beast, Dazzler, and Max Rocker fighting against Flynn and the rest of the Gladiators. Poltergeist's powers wrecked the Arena's props and made the debris fall on the Gladiators. Flynn captured Poltergeist and threatened to wring his neck if Dazzler, Beast, and Rocker didn't surrender to him. Mickey was rescued by Link, who used his powers to force Flynn to drop Poltergeist. Link then started to strangle Flynn, but Dazzler talked him out of doing it. Poltergeist and Link were then told by Dazzler and Beast to leave the Theatre before they were hurt, or worse. Later, both boys decided to leave the Heartbreak Hotel and hit the roads to see what was out there in the world. When last seen they were discussing traveling to either Wyoming or Texas to see if they could become cowboys. After M-Day It is unknown if he lost his powers after M-Day. After the Civil War, he was listed as a potential recruit for the Initiative, as well as Link. | Powers = Poltergeist possesses uncontrollable psychokinetic power to cause improbable (but not impossible) events to occur, such as fires and explosions. Tied to his emotional states, they can affect whatever is closest to his mind at the time, such as when he broke handcuffs holding him. There is also some indication that he may be susceptible to psychic phenomenon. | Abilities = | Strength = | Weaknesses = Lack of control of powers when under emotional stress. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = Neither Dazzler nor Beast informed Poltergeist that Jessica Drew was still alive (she recuperated with the X-Men after Doctor Strange restored her to her body), but then, he didn't ask either. As Link has telekinetic powers (basic lifting powers are the only ones shown so far) which he uses to clean up after Mickey's 'brainstorms' the boys decided that since their powers have an “"order & chaos"” thing going they should team up and help each other out. | Trivia = | Marvel = | Wikipedia = | Links = * Poltergeist at the Marvel Appendix }}